Last chapter. Grim and Boogey has a disturbing clash, Mindy takes over the castle, and the city is completely eradicated. Warning: Four nasty deaths, the F-word and blood coming up.
The night was freezing. Was Irwin's mind playing a trick on him, or was it even colder now than an hour ago? Winter Gates was, as the name implies, always cold and there was always snow on the ground. The moon was covered with the only cloud on the sky, as if the moon goddess herself had fancied a coat for protection against the harsh elements.
This was not a normal battle. Instead of meeting the enemy at one of the battlefields, the whole city was the battlefield. Nergal had sent his minions, the 'nerglings' as spies, and Nergal himself, in despair over his missing son, had covered the theatre in black, wormy tentacles. One of the little nerglings flew over them and dropped a piece of paper onto Irwin's helmet.
"OK, gang," Irwin said despondently to a small party of officers and soldiers. "Team Beta has surveyed the north side of town, and reported over 300 civilians dead, yo."
Eris, stunningly dressed in gilded armor, responded to his inarticulate line by whacking him in the head. Chaos ruled the city tonight; a chaos brought on by man and without divine involvement, so Eris' attempts to harness the annihilation had been fruitless. "If we're done with the tomfoolery, I'd like to move on."
"Yeah!" Corporal Velma retorted. "We'll freeze to death if we don't move soon." She shuddered and wrapped herself tightly into her gossamer, yet durable spider silk cape.
"I'm sorry, yo," Irwin started, "But we have to wait in the watchtower until Mandy gives new orders…"
An eardrum-popping boom rang throughout the city, and an orb of eerie, white light emitted from the city square, denoting that the thousands of years old Scythe Lodge house was now absolutely destroyed. Irwin swallowed and tried his best not to cry. Where was Mandy?
Grim was sitting on the floor, leaning against the double doors to Mandy's boudoir. He could feel the blows on his back as Mandy hurled objects on the other side of the door.
"Let me out of here! Grim!"
Grim sighed exasperatedly. "Doctor says you must stay in bed, Mandy. You are ill and need your rest."
"Oh, curse you!" She screamed and threw an extra large vase. It sounded like the priceless kind of vase as it shattered. Grim was more concerned about the crashing, whooping and hollering coming from the upstairs dining hall, the library and sitting salon. He cursed the door to stay locked, even though he knew it was objectionable to leave a trapped person alone.
He walked; teeth clenched, towards the room emitting the most sound, the audience room, and stood in the magnificent arch that depicted the waltz of the Emperor and the Ragamuffin Girl. Mindy was sitting on Mandy's throne, in a pink cotehardie. She was nothing like the freckled, perky student she had been. She was now taking shape as an outwardly attractive lady, but lacked Mandy's strength and likeable refinement.
"On behalf of Her Majesty Mandy VI and the people of Winter Gates, I welcome you to Dimhald Castle." Grim said as if they had been ambassadors. Mindy set up a disgusted face at Grim's words.
"Duh! From now on this is the House of I.C.U.P, ugly," she said wryly. "Mandy's time is so up. And you're my servant now. My first commands as the new Queen is – Grim, get us drinks."
Grim kept up his appearance, although hatred was about to seep through his eye sockets. "Root beer, Your Majesty?"
"Nuh-uh, thinspiration. Root beer has an awful lot of carbs. Mineral water will do nice." She sneered and leant back. Grim thought about all the poisons that were stored not too far away from the winery as he backed out from the room.
Mandy was done breaking priceless artifacts and was now concentrating her energy around tearing sheets out of her bed.
"Frick!" She exclaimed as she got a rug burn from the mattress, and licked her wounds. She was breathing heavily, frightened by the sounding canons from below. Her hands trembled as they bound the sheets, blankets and curtains together, and fastened them to the bedpost.
Mandy drew the curtains aside and opened the window, and took two seconds to breathe in the fresh air. The cold was almost compact as it hit her face and décolletage, so she put on a robe before tossing the makeshift rope out.
Climbing down 90 yards* was more difficult than she thought at first, and she became very aware of the danger as the gravity made her pendulum against the stone wall of the tower. She squeezed the sheet between her thighs and kept lowering - but only ten yards above ground her fingers were so frozen she could not hold on and let go of her grip.
"Ouff!" Mandy landed on the soft, but freezing snow. The smell of gunpowder sharpened her senses and gave directions. North side of the castle.
"For the last time, Doolin, where are the kids?" Sperg snarled at Mrs. Doolin, who had been badly beaten. Her nose was broken and bleeding, she was bruised and her dress torn. She just raised her eyebrow, although quivering, and scoffed. Lieutenant Creeper manhandled the refined old lady, and Sperg raised his hammy fist to hit her again. Ghastly stopped him.
"Don't bother! The toad won't talk and you know it. You know Mindy's law – either it obeys or it is eliminated."
Mrs. Doolin gasped and her eyes widened. Ghastly was ruthless. "Exterminate her!"
Sperg whipped Mrs. Doolin in the head with the shaft of a dagger, and she dropped lifeless over on the floor.
"What a complete and utter waste of time," Ghastly scoffed in frustration. "I'll look for the kids myself."
"I'll follow you." Creeper wiped off the blood of Mrs. Doolin from his shoes with the torn painting of Mandy's mother.
"No way. I'll go myself while you two keep searching these floors. They can't be that far away."
Grim had served the drinks, been made fun of, and now he returned to Mandy's penthouse to see how she was.
"Mandy? Are you sleeping?" He knocked. As there was no answer, he unlocked the door. The room was empty and the shutters were banging in the wind.
"Oh, damn it!" Grim tried to keep himself together, and hoped that even if Mrs. Doolin was gone, that Billy still kept the children safe. His plans were done for.
In the meantime, Boogeyman had returned to Mindy and as he was standing next to her, he could not help but look forward to the moment she was alone. She would never know what hit her. But while he waited, he might as well make a little chitchat.
"So, Your Majesty, I take it you're pleased with the décor of this house."
Mindy squirmed in the magnificent throne. "If I was a color blind bat, maybe. Everything s going out, and of course you will send for a furniture designer tomorrow."
Boogeyman was not rattled by Mindy's insolent tone. "Of course." He smiled politely. "But I'll send for an undertaker afterwards."
Mindy took a sip of her club soda. "You know, I don't think Ghastly should be down there alone. Both your schemes failed, although not miserably. You could earn my trust by joining her. Now."
Boogeyman tilted his head and his neck made a loud cracking. "At once, Your Majesty."
The basements of Dimhald Castle had been dungeons in older times; endlessly large where up to three hundred prisoners could be held, this was back when men ruled Winter Gates. In those days the king had over a hundred prison guards in employment at any given time, and required them to be skilled in the arts of torture and utilize them on the prisoners in shift 24 hours a day. The cellar rooms were built large and high under the ceilings. And so would the horrible screaming from the tormented inmates ascend from the caverns and entertain the king as he ate supper. Ghastly felt uncertain as she took a turn to the left.
It didn't look as if anyone had set foot in this part of the castle for decades. There was moss growing on the musty rock walls, cobwebs and dust covered most of the random items around her, and she passed a sign carried a message written in ancient Cyrillic. It read "Crypt".
Ghastly could hear voices in the distance, and she turned her head to an open door way down in the dark hall. She felt very uneasy as she closed in on the open room.
"Oh, my God, what is this place?" she sighed.
She stopped, her high-heeled foot placed in a floor puddle. Someone was staring her in the back of her head, and she saw this person in the water for a split second and she gasped. She was grabbed violently, tossed down on the floor and dragged off into the shadows. The sound of Ghastly's scream soared from the cellar walls and floor, all the way up to the throne room. Everybody seated there became instantly as silent as the grave.
"Where's Ghastly?" Mindy barked in horror.
Grim turned around, looking. "Where's Boogey?"
Mandy had curled up behind a street peddler's wagon, watching as one of Mindy's troops passed by in a hurry. The snow had begun to fall again, over the enemy foot prints, blood and ash that sullied the ground. But as beautiful as her ground was she had ventured into a dangerous place and couldn't linger. The next troop was not far away, she could hear voices.
Her dress was a bit longer than ordered, and the skirt trailed after her on the wet pavement as she ran, down the street, over an empty front yard. When she was as far away from the guard's lodges, she took a breath. She had to get to the potion room before Grim found out he had the fake Darkness vial.
As no one else was gutsy enough to step down in the basement, Grim had been ordered to find out what had happened to Major Doctor Ghastly. Tell the truth, Grim didn't feel any better either. He had not reaped Ghastly's soul, and that could mean one out of three things. She had either killed herself, or she had been stupid enough to venture into the crypts and gotten herself hurt. There were many decayed trapdoors where the bodies of dead servants and prisoners had been discarded long ago. He didn't want to think about the third option, even though it was the most probable one.
"Help me."
He jumped and backed against the wall as he heard the voice. It was a woman's voice in the distance, but not Ghastly's. He followed the sound.
"Help me… somebody…"
Grim's breath turned short. "Mandy?"
It was Mandy's voice, and it sounded as if she was in great pain. Grim clenched his teeth; something felt awfully wrong. He passed the sign that read "Crypt". He had always hated this part of the castle.
"Where are you, Mandy?"
"I'm down here. Help me… I've hurt myself in here…"
Grim was cold sweating. There was drag marks of blood and grit on the floor leading to a door in the distance. This door was now closed, and he held his breath as he reached out his hand to open it, only to have it swung open almost right in the face.
He screamed. Boogeyman came out the door, trembling, terrified and with blood on his blue nightshirt and naked feet. He didn't appear to be injured in anyway, although shell-shocked and clenched the door frame with his hands as if he was about to faint.
"It was horrible," he gasped with eyes wide open. "All the blood…"
He staggered out of the doorframe. Grim's narrowed his eye sockets. "What did you do?"
"I don't know what happened! Mindy sent me after Ghastly, and…" Boogey's jaw dropped. "I didn't do it! I don't do stuff like this!"
That line was the straw that broke the candle's back. Grim grabbed Boogey by the elbows and held him up against the wall.
"You don't do stuff like that, huh? Didn't you kidnap Mandy four days ago and painted her mind black with those insane goddamn colors of yours?" he tossed Boogey violently further down the hall. A loud crack warned that Boogey's right femur broke.
Boogeyman made a loud moan of agony and drew his knees under his chin. He raised his hands as Grim grabbed him again. "It was an order, Grim," he groaned and pain made him grimace.
"As if you couldn't have come up with an idea like that on your own? All the women you've killed, all the little animals you mutilated, the children you damaged, and still knowing better than stealing a little girl. Rich," Grim said spitefully as he grasped Boogey' pointy ear and banged his face several times into a sewer pipe. Blood squirted over Grim's face.
"That was my gang years, Grim! Please don't kill me!" Boogey held out his hands to cushion the impact, only to have his wrists snapped. Grim was furious; the only thing important to him now was damaging Boogey as much as possible.
"I could have helped you out of that gang, you piece of sh…!"
"How?" Boogey coughed up blood and pieces of broken teeth. "You've always hated me!"
Grim lifted Boogey by the upper arms and his smile was evil and vengeful. "And so from the bottom of my heart. Happy New Year, princess!" He kissed Boogey maliciously and tossed him through an ancient and dusty glass door.
The door was smashed in a million pieces by Boogey's scrawny self. Grim's instinct was to enter and put an end to his enemy's life, but his gaze was drawn to the window. A red and orange ribbon rose over the horizon.
"Dawn," Grim whispered. "Oh, no."
Then he realized where he was. It was the Potion Room. "Oh, no!"
He stepped backwards. "Boogey?" he said gently. "Boogey, get up."
Boogeyman breathed; heavy, trembling breaths from pain and internal bleeding. "I can't. You broke my leg!"
True. A chunk of bone protruded out of Boogey's thigh.
They both turned silent as they saw what was hanging above Boogey. The Darkness had escaped its vial and was trailing across the ceiling and over to the end side of the room. Boogeyman managed to fight up into a standing position, keeping a close eye on the black slime it left on the walls..
The Darkness was not a shadow anymore. It was an immense blanket of compact blackness, shaped like a portal with nothing but an ice blue hole in the middle to contrast its deadly whirlpool.
"Get out of there!" Grim shouted. "Now!"
Boogey leapt over the threshold, only to be grabbed from behind by The Darkness' slimy vines and dragged through the air. He reached his arms out and flailed. "Grim! Grim!"
Grim stopped breathing as he saw Boogey sticking to The Darkness' middle like a fly caught on duct tape. Dark veils layered over him and he collapsed quickly, and was assimilated into it. When the black mass parted to exit the room, Grim saw Boogey's dead body, fused into the wall.
The sight of this made him feel sick and he backed slowly away from the Potion Room. He turned and ran over another door, that opened, and on the floor on the inside lay something, most likely a woman. It was hard to tell.
"Oh, Doctor Ghastly," Grim gasped. Then he turned to see what that awful draft was.
The Darkness folded like a flower at night before a booming pierced Grim's ears. It popped the ceiling like a giant column growing through the middle of the castle, crushing and destroying, reaching out its tendrils like dark branches on a pitch black tree.
It sucked in every living thing that got in its way. All souls in the castle were assimilated into it before it mushroomed out of the highest tower.
Grim fled up what was left of the stairs to escape. Maybe not all of Winter Gates would be ruined when the dawn took over. He exited through a first story window, and Mandy, who was trying to break in through another ten yards down, saw him.
"Grim! Help me!"
The Darkness grabbed both of them before Grim could blink, and now, the funnel-shaped cloud of black unfolded completely. Dimhald Castle, the guard's lodge, the mountains, the lake and all of Winter Gates disappeared into shadows.
Mandy rematerialized, floating inside the Darkness, along with all the others. But the others were sleeping. Billy, Boogey, Mindy and her gang, Mrs. Doolin and everybody else were scattered in nothingness, unconscious.
"You let us down, Mandy," a voice boomed through the void. It came from Grim, who was standing in the air, looking down on her.
"You let us die," Granny Grim showed up next to him, pale and spooky.
"Now we must kill you." Billy appeared and pointed his finger at her, menacingly.
Mandy's eyes reflected the scythe as Grim lifted it. Everybody floated upwards, as if in a tank full of water. "We believe you belong with us! We believe you belong!"
Grim joined in the chanting as the blade sank into Mandy's heart, and everything faded. Her thoughts, feelings and memories disappeared one by one into the darkest pit of all; death.